Ignition
by Dimensional Nexus
Summary: While the Couslands visit Orlais, fifteen-year-old Elissa meets the woman who will one day save her life in more ways than she'll ever be able to count. Fem!Cousland/Leliana Prequel/Intro for my other Dragon Age story, not posted at the moment.


A/N: Yes, I know I have other stories, they are being rewritten and re-evaluated. This one-shot is basically an intro to a larger story I'll be writing, which is a Dragon Age/Berserk crossover. I had this wacky idea of changing the Origins how I wanted to, in this case, Leliana and the female Cousland I'm going to use have already met and that initial spark essential to the whole romance thing has already flared to life when the events of the game actually start, which is the idea that named the story, too. Other changes to the Human Noble origin will be revealed later. Here's your fair warning: incoming, albeit fledgling, lesbian relationship. You've been warned, if you don't wanna read about it, go away, simple as that. I realize that it may be a little weird for any female to just suddenly be attracted to other girls, but that's just how attraction is sometimes and I wanted that suddenness. Any actual lesbians or any authors especially good at homosexual relationships are wholeheartedly encouraged to criticize away, but the way I see it any relationship can start this way, a sudden intriguing moment that makes you crave for more. I know it's not love, not yet anyway, but it can become love, which, of course, it will.

Disclaimer: Bioware owns Dragon Age, and Kentaro Miura-sensei owns Berserk (not as relevant for this story, but I figure I'll cover all bases possible).

Ignition

"Excuse me, milady, would you like to dance?" another in the long line of pretentious assholes Elissa Cousland was forced to cater to asked, ignoring the disappointed looks on the faces of at least twenty of his fellow Orlesian nobles. It had been like this throughout the entire ball Lady What's-her-name had held in honor of the Couslands' visit to Orlais. Teyrn Bryce Cousland had explained to his family that, though he himself had fought to drive the Orlesians out of Ferelden, the niceties must be observed and it was a bad idea to alienate potential allies, no matter who they were. Honestly, she simply thought her father had been bullied into this by her mother, who had been desperately searching for a good potential husband for her since she'd turned thirteen, and, having failed to do so in her home country, had begun searching elsewhere. As she was contemplating this, and various evil schemes in retaliation, a woman danced into view who, for some reason, halted Elissa's thoughts and drew her like a moth to flame. She wasn't sure whether it was the bright red hair, the curves of her beautiful body, or the way she seemed to flow to the beat from partner to partner, but Elissa was smitten, finding it very hard not to openly gape at her.

Eventually, though, her anger at the constant stream of men propositioning her outweighed her need to catch glimpses of this breathtaking woman through the crowd; Elissa growled at the latest and levered him into the nearest wall before taking her leave.

"That was about as subtle as a brick to the head," her brother's voice came from behind her, attempting to diffuse her anger with a little levity.

"Wasn't exactly going for subtle, and if I'd had the patience to work one out of the wall, a brick is exactly what the next would've gotten," she snarled.

"Wow, that's the longest sentence you've said since you were five, I'm proud you've finally managed to remove whatever was obstructing your mouth."

"Bugger off."

"There's the taciturn sister I know and love, and here comes the glare." Aforementioned sister was indeed leveling an icy glare at Fergus, "Ouch, that's your best one yet."

"I'm so thrilled you approve," she deadpanned, the glare's intensity kicking up a notch.

"Thought you would be. What exactly has you so pissed off? You've been to these kinds of things before, even been hit on by more guys than that...at the same time."

"Difficult to explain."

"Try me."

"Not really too thrilled about any **guy** hitting on me at the moment," the emphasis used put Fergus on the right track.

"Ah, and how long has this been going on?"

"Red hair," was her only reply, figuring that if she, a fifteen year old **girl,** was enamored with the woman, Fergus and every other man in there must have at least noticed her.

"Oh, I think I know the one you're talking about, she's quite popular. Why not ask her to dance?"

"1. She'd probably turn me down, 2. Mother would have me drawn and quartered."

"The latter is probably true, but it would be worth it, and I saw her shoot you a few glances, too," which was a lie, but, of course, meant to encourage her.

"Really?"

She sounded hopeful and it nearly broke Fergus's heart to tell her that, indeed, she had piqued her interest's interest. The girl was sorely lacking in social interaction, though, and Fergus felt the potential for helping Elissa outweighed the potential that she'd disembowel him...he hoped. In retrospect, he reflected that this might come back to bite him in the ass as he watched his little sister timidly approach the redhead, who was currently engaged in small talk with a group of noble ladies.

* * *

Maker, this was awkward, Elissa had, on more than one occasion, been on the bad end of a 5 on 1 combat situation and had, not only, come out on top, she'd done so unarmed, but approaching the red haired girl felt like marching into certain death. As she cleared her throat and shifted nervously on her feet, the girl turned towards her, a brilliant smile on her face and a questioning look in her eye.

"Um...hello?" Elissa wanted to punch something, **that** was all she could manage?

"Hello to you, as well, you are the Teyrn's daughter, no?" she replied, her voice lilting, musical and serving only to endear her more to the nervous young noble.

"Y-Yes, I'm Elissa, pleased to meet you."

"Very pleased to meet you as well, I am Leliana."

There was an uncomfortable pause as Elissa built up her nerve, "Err...would you mind terribly giving me the honor of a dance?"

"A strange request, but not unwelcome," she replied, her smile reassuring and kind. She excused herself from the nobles and, slowly but surely, the two began to glide across the dance floor, Leliana leading and Elissa's multitude of footwork lessons allowing her to adapt quickly to whatever the band thought they needed to dance to.

* * *

Leliana had been only peripherally aware of the young noble's open admiration of her, attracting attention was part of her job, after all, but had been surprised at the intensity she'd seen in that stare, the thought of it sending a little shiver down her spine. She may not be aware of it, but this girl, she could tell, was not one to take things in moderation, she fully devoted herself to whatever was happening at the moment. She laughed as she saw her finally snap, and let a satisfied smirk split her face as she noticed he was one of the many people here who couldn't really dance, Leliana's toes were still sore. She felt herself strangely disappointed when the young Cousland stalked out, her brother following shortly thereafter. She barely listened to the mindless chatter of the nobles while she thought about the younger girl, her midnight black hair, her body, obviously well-toned and without and ounce of extraneous fat, and, most of all, that blazing stare from her bright, green eyes. Even the memory of it gave her the chills, in an extremely good way.

When she'd reentered the ballroom and, almost timidly, approached her, Leliana smiled brightly and treated the obviously awkward, yet intriguing, girl very kindly, not wanting to somehow scare and/or piss her off. Even as they danced, Elissa kept the intense stare up, boring straight through all the bardic arts of deflecting people away from what they wanted Marjolaine had taught her and forcing her to display her true self, no acts, to this girl three years her junior. "You really don't talk much, do you?"

"Not really."

"Why is that?"

"I just...don't."

"Fine, be that way."

"Ugh! I just...don't like to be around people much, so no reason."

"Relax," another kind smile, "I was only joking. Why the exception for little, old me?"

"I...don't know. I just saw you and...I don't know."

"Getting a little flustered?" Leliana giggled. Elissa just raised an eyebrow at the very girly noise she'd never produced herself, causing yet another giggle to escape the older girl.

"That's very...cute."

"Do my ears deceive me, or did the daughter of one of Ferelden's oldest and most important noble families just tell me I had a cute laugh?"

"Indeed she did."

"I'll have to try and do it more often then, just for you."

"Only in Orlais another few days at most."

"Then I insist that you return in a timely manner, you are a very interesting young woman, Elissa."

"Eh, not really. More interested in you."

"Me? There's nothing worth telling, I'm a simple servant girl left to roam around while her master mingles with his peers."

Elissa looked skeptical, **very** skeptical, but even one as socially dense as she could understand Leliana wanted the subject dropped with all haste. She never got the chance to make more of it, anyway, as someone bumped into her from behind and pressed her closer to the older redhead, held in her arms rather than at arm's length, their faces so close their noses grazed each other's. That irresistible force force that acts on all couples in this situation began to pull their lips together, but at that moment Leliana spotted the man she'd come here to kill, that her and Marjolaine's patron had deemed worthy of death. She gave Elissa a tiny peck and then vanished, slipping nearly unseen into a room behind the man. Elissa merely stood there, shellshocked at Leliana's sudden departure, as well as tingling all over from the small taste she'd gotten of this strange woman. She looked around and just barely saw the tail end of Leliana's dress slip into a room, the door slamming shut soon after.

Wondering whether or not to follow, whether the kiss had been hurried or left unsatisfying on purpose, Elissa just stood there until she felt a warm hand settle on her shoulder, followed by a "Hey, pup, how's the party treating you?"

"It's...fine, Dad, just," she sighed, "...confusing."

"So I wasn't dreaming that whole thing just now then?"

"You saw that?"

"'Fraid so, pup. Can't honestly say I'm surprised, though, you always were the weird one," he replied, his gentle smile telling her there was nothing malicious in the comment, just a simple observation. He was, of course, right on the money, she was the only daughter of a noble house who trained with a two-handed broadsword nearly as tall as she herself was, rarely said more than four or five words, and was now smitten by an Orlesian woman she'd met little more than half an hour ago.

"Ain't that the truth?" she responded sarcastically, a resigned huff following as she and her father turned away from the door Leliana had vanished behind and back into the crowd. Inside the room, Leliana drew her dagger from the man's chest, removing her hand from his mouth before sabotaging the door's lock so she'd have time to get away before he was discovered. She quickly stripped off the elaborate dress, revealing a set of fine leather armor and jumped to a high window, looking wistfully at the door to the ballroom before stealing away into the night.

* * *

As the bard walked the streets of Val Royeaux the next day, a pair of hands dragged her into an alley and a very pissed off Elissa Cousland growled in her ear, "Hello, Leliana." She then felt a dagger pressed to her throat.

"Elissa, what are you doing?"

"It was all an act, wasn't it? Just using me as a distraction while your target moved to an area where you could kill him in peace. What else did your patron tell you to do? Kill my father, spy on my family, ingratiate yourself with me as a means of access?" Anger was something Elissa understood very well, she harnessed it in combat to give her an edge, and in this case it helped her ignore the despair that settled on her shoulders when someone from the party had informed her family of Leliana's crime. Helped her shake off the urge to bawl her eyes out as the feeling of betrayal wrenched at her heart.

Leliana was utterly speechless, not only had Elissa deduced exactly what she was from just the barest of details, but she'd tracked her down and surprised her. She thought it only fair that she get an opportunity to do the same, so she spun in Elissa's loose grip and pressed herself against the girl, capturing her lips in mind-blowing kiss that left them both breathless for a second when it ended. The bard recovered first and scrambled up a nearby set of scaffolding, shedding her dress once more in favor of the leather armor underneath. It took Elissa only seconds longer to break the daze and follow her, the bard leading the warrior on a flying chase across the city's rooftops.

"You're quite good at this," Leliana called back to her, seemingly reveling in this little game.

"Shut up and answer my damn question."

"Oh, now that's just no fun, keep being mean, and I'll just have to lose you," Leliana replied, giggling as she threw herself out into the air, grabbing a flagpole and using her momentum to land safely a fair distance away. "Catch me and maybe I'll consider giving you a straight answer."

"Whatever," Elissa muttered angrily, but reluctantly admitted to herself that chasing the bard was indeed a lot of fun. Instead of Leliana's flagpole maneuver, she used her superior leg strength to leap to a higher rooftop and simply ran after her, leaving the flashy stunts to the professional. Watching the professional at work was really something, too. The fluid grace that had so captivated her the night before serving the redhead well as she turned literally everything into a means of transportation. Eventually, just to mess with her she was sure, Leliana dropped out of sight, conveniently over an alley that had quite a few ways to get back to ground level. Hearing voices, though, Elissa stopped just out of sight and crept to the edge slowly. She saw three, rather large, men surrounding the bard, she couldn't hear exactly what they were saying but it probably had something to do with someone Leliana had killed or spied on in the past, this sort of thing tended to happen in her profession.

With a cry, she drew her sword and leaped, blade turned downward, and skewered the man in Leliana's face, force borrowed from her fall enabling a clean puncture through his breastplate. She slowly rose, her cloak falling back over her shoulders as she drew up to her full height and smiled, a slightly psychotic grin that she reserved for her enemies and scaring her brother shitless. The other two were so stunned that Elissa had charged forward and forcefully broken one's neck while Leliana pulled a dagger and slit the other's throat before either even registered what had happened.

"You certainly know how to make an entranc-" the bard was cut off as Elissa pulled her close and kissed her, returning the favor.

After they'd broken apart, oxygen was important after all, Elissa smiled and simply said, "Got you."

Leliana almost broke down laughing at that and let a wide smile split her face, "Okay, what is it you wanted to know? I've forgotten in all the excitement."

"Basically, do you intend to hurt my family in any way?"

"No, I don't. Especially since they have one as lovely as yourself amongst them, I didn't even find out anything one couldn't simply ask about," which was a lie. She hadn't been trying to, but it was hard to ignore things such as Teyrna Eleanor's tendency to visit her friends in their woefully under-protected homes, or that Fergus Cousland was considering going to the Free Marches to check on his friend Nathaniel, who'd stopped writing suddenly, but she had no intention of revealing that information even to Marjolaine, so it was like she'd never heard it.

"I'm not sure I believe that, but...I trust you."

"Your faith is well-placed, I assure you, and, to answer your first, and more important, question, no it was not an act."

"Good to know. Correct me if I'm wrong, but bards are normal minstrels as well as assassins and spies, yes?" Elissa asked, a random thought popping into her head.

"Of course."

"Then, next time I'm in Orlais, you owe me a song, the grandest one you can think of."

Leliana giggled at the childish enthusiasm, but noticed a hooded figure at the other end of the alley, a figure she knew intimately. "Next time, then," she said, delivering another toe-curling kiss that left Elissa breathless before joining her bardmaster.

"Wow," was all the warrior could think to say before retrieving her blade and making her way back toward her family.

On the other side of Val Royeaux, before Elissa had even gotten halfway home, Marjolaine stopped her apprentice and demanded a report of what she'd been able to gather on the visiting family. "Nothing at all, they are far too cautious. There are probably others in Ferelden who'd make much easier targets."

_Until next we meet, ma éclair. _She thought, grinning at just how right the comparison was.

* * *

Twenty-year-old Elissa woke with a start, but let a smile grace her scarred face as she remembered the bard. Memories like that were all that kept her going now, two years after Arl Howe had betrayed her family, she'd much rather remember the taste of Leliana than the smell of burnt flesh, the sound of her laugh as opposed to the screams of those unlucky enough to escape the fires. She reached for the Dragon Slayer in the dark of her camp, the wrapping of the hilt familiar and comforting as the memories assaulted her again, Leliana trying as best she could to hold them back but failing, able to do nothing more than remind her that there had been a time before Castle Cousland had burned, that, while not very expressive, she'd been happy once. She curled into a ball, grasping at the massive blade like a piece of driftwood in the ocean, crying herself back to sleep, where maybe, just maybe, she'd finally get that song she'd been promised.

* * *

And that's that, please read and review, the main story will be forthcoming shortly. For those of you who didn't catch that last bit, éclair is French for lightning, a little play on words, what with the whole relationship spark and all (obviously, the older Elissa didn't hear that, btw). Sorry that got kinda depressing, but the main story won't be all angsty, I just thought I needed to temper the joy with a little despair. Also, no complaining about anything unresolved in that last part, it was, but you have to infer, I'm not gonna spell everything out for ya, and think about the ending as a promise to see each other again, rather than a random bout of silliness. No, Teyrna Cousland didn't, in fact drag them to Orlais just to get Elissa hitched, she's just being fifteen.

-Sypher Kyaeon


End file.
